AREA PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Samuels finding plenty of ways to score for Chargers

Oscar LeRoy|oleroy@mrt.com

Published 4:21 pm, Monday, October 20, 2014

Photo: Tim Fischer

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Trinity's Ethan Samuels tries to get away from Rankin's Zebby Huitron earlier this season at Red Devil Stadium in Rankin. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Trinity's Ethan Samuels tries to get away from Rankin's Zebby Huitron earlier this season at Red Devil Stadium in Rankin. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Tim Fischer

AREA PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Samuels finding plenty of ways to score for Chargers

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Ethan Samuels said he can tell the difference in his play and the way he’s grown compared to previous years playing football.

Trinity is sure glad to see Samuels come into his own as a senior spread back for the Chargers as he is not only finding different ways to get into the end zone but helping his teammates get there as well.

In an 84-34 rout of Abilene Christian High School on Friday night, Samuels rushed for 88 yards and scored two touchdowns on 10 carries, was 5-of-8 passing for 142 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, and he added 100 yards receiving and another TD on four catches. He did all that on offense and he was also a contributor on defense, playing safety.

Because of that outstanding all-around effort, Samuels is the Reporter-Telegram’s Area Player of the Week.

While Samuels is enjoying success, he remains humble and only wants to see his team succeed in the process.

“The individual stuff doesn’t matter to me,” he said. “As long as we could put a ‘W’ on the board, that’s really my main concern. If they need me to get the ball, I’ll get the ball as much as they need to.”

Trinity coach Antwan Alexander said that the way Samuels has been playing this season has made a huge difference for his Chargers, who are 6-1 overall and 2-0 in TAPPS Six-man Division I, District 1.

“Matter of fact, it’s evolved the offensive side of the ball tremendously,” said Alexander of Samuels’ play. “It’s causing the defense to prepare for a run threat and a pass threat.

“The light bulb has clicked in the young man’s head,” he added. “He’s figuring out things and he’s seeing things a lot faster than what he did last year. The difference between last year and this year is that Ethan was trying to make the plays happen instead of allowing things to happen. He was trying to over think and overdo things last year. This year he’s just going out and reacting to situations that are in front of him and trusting in his legs and throwing ability, which is huge.”

Alexander also noted that Samuels and Vincent Baiano have formed a great one-two punch as far as throwing the ball and added that opponents just can’t focus on one or the other.

Samuels attributed his overall improvement to getting more experience.

“I only started playing football in the seventh grade, but with all these years passing by I’ve learned a lot and matured a lot,” he said. “Now I see things that I would not have seen the previous two years and I think that’s really helped me out and it’s helped us grow as a team.”

As far as the team is concerned, the Chargers have enjoyed a lot of success this season and are coming off an impressive win over a team that blew them out 62-8 last year.

“We came into that game after getting our butts kicked last year and I think we came in with a chip on our shoulder,” Samuels said. “We wanted to show that team that we were capable of a whole lot more than that. I think that’s what gave us that mentality. We started off slow but as the game progressed, we started realizing what we were capable of and it all kind of flowed and we were able to lay it on.”

Samuels said he knows that there is still a lot of work to be done for him and the Chargers this season. He added that his team needs to keep its focus and keep on grinding if it wants to win the district title this season.

“After the first two games, we’re definitely where we need to be in order to seal this district for us but it’s still going to take a whole lot of work and we’re going to have to keep practicing hard,” he said. “Nothing’s going to change. We’re still going to have to keep working hard because in this district the opponents are tough, they’re not just going to give it to us. We’re going to have to play our very best in every game. We’re going to have to play four quarters every game and expect to play to the best of our ability. That’s the kind of mentality we need to win this district.”

With a player such as Samuels, the Chargers should like their chances even more.

Follow Oscar on Twitter: @OLeRoy_MRT

Other notable performances from last week:

- Trinity quarterback Vincent Baiano was 14-of-16 passing for 242 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in the Chargers’ 84-34 victory over Abilene Christian.

- In a 27-20 victory over Stanton, Coahoma senior quarterback Braxton Iden was 10-of-19 passing for 158 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions, and added 123 yards rushing and two touchdowns -- including the game-winner with 3 seconds left -- on 13 carries. Iden also added 13 tackles on defense and had an interception. Teammate Kyler Franks added 107 yards rushing and one TD on 15 carries to go with four receptions for 93 yards.

- Andrews senior quarterback Jase Hammack was 21-of-33 passing for 291 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions and also ran for a TD in the Mustangs’ 47-8 victory over San Elizario.